


A Coming Home

by 852_Prospect_Archivist



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Alternate Universes, First Times, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-10
Packaged: 2017-12-11 01:56:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/792709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/852_Prospect_Archivist/pseuds/852_Prospect_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What would have happened if Jim's chopper hadn't crashed?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> This story is an Alternate Universe in that, what would their lives be like if one major life-changing event didn't happen. For Jim, that life-changing event was the fact that his chopper didn't crash in Peru and the mission went off without a hitch. All of Jim's childhood is still canon. 
> 
> Special thanks to Lisa, Virginia, Bast and Shar, Cal, and Zerena for taking on this monster and editing it in it's various stages. Thanks to everyone else who encouraged me while I was posting this to my web page as a work in progress.

## A Coming Home

by Tiger Moon

Author's webpage: <http://members.aol.com/ATigerMoon/fic.html>

Author's disclaimer: Jim, Blair and the rest of the Sentinel Crew belong to Pet Fly and Paramount. I'm not going to make any money off this so don't bother suing me. Julie and Scott and any other non-show characters named are my creations.

* * *

A Coming Home  
Tiger Moon  
Copyright 1/2000 

Blair sat at his desk -- a far cry from the one he'd had before he went on sabbatical. This one was bigger. Hell, his whole office was bigger. He'd moved from the basement storage office when he was a teaching fellow to the second floor office with a little more room, barely, when he got his Ph.D. and was named an assistant professor. Now he was in this office \-- on the first floor -- a scant eight years after he got his doctorate. He was moving up in the world now that he was a full Professor of Anthropology. Returning from his sabbatical, he found himself tenured, the youngest in the history of the Department and possibly the University. Rising, he began to look around his large office and plan where he was going to put the things he had to unpack from the pile of boxes that were stacked in the centre of the room. Pulling the top box off and placing it in front of the bookcase, he dug into his pocket for the Swiss Army knife he always carried with him. 

He was still adjusting to being back in the city again. A year in the jungle with no screeching horns, no stereos blaring out of dorm rooms, nothing but the peace and the silence of the jungle. He loved the silence, which is why he jumped at the chance for a full year sabbatical instead of just a summer. Studying the myths and legends of the native people of the South American regions gave him a chance to indulge in his favourite field of study. He'd even managed to collect some information on his pet project: Sentinels. He felt like Dr. Jones Sr. on his quest for the Holy Grail in the Indiana Jones movie. Sentinels were his own version of the Holy Grail and he hoped someday to actually find a modern day version of Burton's Watchman. 

A brief knock at the door and the sound of it opening brought his head out of a box of books he had started to unpack. 

"Dr. Sandburg?" a hesitant voice asked. 

Blair whirled around, "Jules!" He met her halfway across the floor and scooped the petite woman with dark auburn hair up in a hug. 

"Welcome back, Blair," she said when he finally released her. 

"What's with this Dr. Sandburg shit?" Blair asked, Julie was one person who _never_ called him by any kind of title, not once in the fourteen years he'd known her. 

Julie laughed, "Just in case it wasn't you unpacking your boxes. I couldn't very well come in here telling you 'it was about damn time you got your ass back' and find that it wasn't you, now could I?" 

Blair laughed and wrapped his arm around her. They sat on the comfortable sofa, together, their feet tucked under them, facing each other. 

"So how come you didn't tell me you were back?" she asked whapping his chest. 

Blair's hands went up to ward off further attack. "I swear, I was going to call you today. I only just got back two days ago. I went out and found a place to live right away and I was waiting for you to get home before I called. Am I forgiven?" he pouted. 

"As if I could stay mad at you." They leaned together and hugged for a few moments. "So tell me about this new place." Julie asked when they parted again. 

"It's a great one room place -- large, roomy with a balcony that overlooks the market area. It went up for sale on a foreclosure the day I called my realtor and I got it for a song. The bank accepted my bid on it right away and I used the money I'd been squirreling away. So now I'll just be a poor professor instead of a poor student," he laughed, "But I'll have a great place to live. And it's not in the building zone, so I have and will always have a clear view of the harbour and North Cascade." 

"It sounds great! When can I come see it?" she pushed. 

Blair laughed, "It's not much to see right now, just four white walls. Let me get moved in, okay? I want to get everything unpacked before you plot a housewarming party at my new place." 

Julie looked at him in mock horror, "Blair, I'm insulted, I'd never do anything like that." 

"Jules, you forget who you are talking to." Blair teased, then grabbed her hand and pulled her up, "Come on help me get these boxes unpacked. You're also more than welcome to come and help me unpack and paint the condo too." 

"Oh gee Sandburg, I'm honoured," she said sarcastically, ripping open the first box. 

Blair threw the wadded up newspaper from the box at her. 

Julie ducked, "How many times have we done this?" 

"What? Unpack?" he asked as he pulled several volumes out. 

"Yeah..." 

"Between the two of us? Probably too many to count." 

"Do you think we'll ever find permanence?" she asked, knowing that Blair would know she wasn't just talking about offices, or places to live but permanence in relationships. 

Blair stopped and looked at his oldest friend, "I hope so. I am so tired of empty relationships. I'm ready to have it all." He'd known Julie since she was a wide-eyed freshman and they had a friendship that allowed them the intimacy they shared. 

Julie snorted, "Me too." 

They spent the next hour or so unpacking all of Blair's books. He had a particular way of sorting them and since Julie had been the one to help him pack all of them last summer they were able to practically pull them out of the boxes and put them right on to the shelves. 

"Damn Blair, do you think you have enough books?" Julie groused when yet another box was uncovered. 

"Jules..." he said half-laughing and shaking a copy of an old Anthropology text at her. Of course she'd groused the same way when she helped him pack the books up last summer as well. 

"I mean really now, did you keep every textbook from every class you ever took?" She teased. 

Blair didn't dignify that remark with a response, basically because it was way too close to the truth. He had a thing for books and it was obvious by looking at his office and his home. Books were his one vice and the place where most of his money went. "They are _not_ all my books," he commented wryly, pulling out a book that belonged to one of Julie's children. 

"That's where that went. We... I was looking for that one." 

Blair looked at her quizzically, there was something she wasn't saying. He'd just bide his time and wait for her to explain. He knew her well enough to know that if he didn't push her she'd end up telling him anyway. She always did. 

When they finished with the books, she helped him hang the masks he'd collected or had been given by the people he'd interacted with on his expeditions. After the masks came the personal pictures and those were hung above the sofa. Together they stood on the sofa and hung the pictures, laughing at some of them and the memories of shared expeditions. When they were finally finished they collapsed on the sofa wrapped up in each other's arms. 

"Thanks, babe," Blair whispered against her hair. 

"No problem, it goes faster with two anyway." She knew that if left to his own devices Blair wouldn't unpack until he needed a book and then there would be piles all over the floor until she took pity on him and put them away. It was standard operating procedure for them. 

Blair pulled away and turned to face her, not totally letting her out of his embrace, "Jules, what haven't you told me?" He knew there had to be more. She never once mentioned dating anyone and she'd always told him about the various male friends her children had scared off. Most men couldn't stand up to their high standards so Julie rarely had a chance to go out on a second date. 

Julie shook her head, she should have known better than to try and keep anything from Blair. Sometimes she swore he was one of those Sentinels he liked to study about. "I'm dating someone. A detective," she whispered. 

Blair took her chin and lifted her head, "A detective, as in a police detective? A cop?" 

She nodded. 

"So tell me about him." He said quietly. 

Julie was glad that Blair didn't point out that her dating a cop was really out of character for her. She'd always dated men that were like them, academics. The one exception had been her ex-husband. He had been ex-military and she stayed as far away from anyone in that kind of rigid job structure ever since. "Blair, he's great. He's nice, gentle, caring, funny, serious and, most importantly, the kids love him and he loves them." 

Blair knew that this guy must be something special if the kids loved him. Sam and Roma were hard to please and he'd seen many potential boyfriends go running when faced with the twins. And if they liked the detective and he made Julie happy who was he to dissuade her? "As long as you are happy, Jules." 

"I am, I really am. For the first time in a long time I can look forward to being in a relationship with a man and not be afraid. You don't know how good that feels. So good that it scares me. This could be it Blair. This could be what we both have been looking for, something permanent." 

"I hope so, babe, for you and for the twins. You deserve it. So, when do I get to meet Mr Wonderful?" 

"Come by tonight. Rafe--that's his name--is bringing his friends over to my place for their monthly poker game. You can meet the gang then and pick up your mutts at the same time." 

"Hey, no insulting my dogs." Blair tried to protest but ended up laughing instead. 

"I've got to run and get the kids. Seven o'clock tonight and don't be late." Julie was out the door before Blair could even reply. 

* * *

Blair knocked on the door to Julie's loft. He could hear the louder than normal noise level so he knew that the party was already underway. There were only two things on Blair's mind, his pets, he'd missed his two dogs and Sam and Roma, Julie's twins. 

The door opened to the sound of barking dogs and shouts of 'Uncle Blair'. His two greyhounds and two exuberant seven-year-olds immediately overwhelmed him. "Whoa..." Blair spit out before sinking to the ground to love on his dogs--Aztec, the red brindle and white greyhound, and Maya, the steel grey greyhound-- before turning his attention to the two kids. Shoving the dogs away finally, he pulled the kids into his lap and holding them tight for a few moments. He'd missed them. 

When he was done greeting his dogs and the kids, he stood; discovering that Julie's little poker party was far from that. 

"Surprise!" Julie cried along with most of the rest of her guests. She had no intention of telling him she'd found out from the dean when he'd be back so she could throw this little welcome home party for him. 

"Jules..." Blair said quietly, overwhelmed by what his friend had planned for him. He looked around the room and saw several of his advisees, a couple of the teaching fellows, plus some people he assumed were Julie's new boyfriend's friends. He spent the next few minutes being greeted by and introduced to everyone else. 

A voice from behind him brought him up short, "Hey Sandburg. About time you got back." 

"Steven, hey man, it's good to see you." Steven was one of the only friends he'd seen during his time away. His friend's business had him travelling a lot and sometimes took him to South America so they were able to meet and at least have dinner together, giving Blair some measure of contact with life in Cascade. 

"Hey Blair, let me introduce you to my brother." Steven stepped aside and motioned for the taller man to come forward. "Jim, this is Doctor Blair Sandburg. Blair, this is my brother Jim." 

Blair looked at the taller man standing next to his friend and looked into the clearest blue eyes he'd ever seen. 

Jim stepped around his brother and shook hands with Blair, "Nice to meet you." 

"Yeah," Blair stammered, regaining his voice after he pulled his eyes away from Jim's, "Nice to meet you too." He held the other man's hands a little longer than necessary. Shaking himself back to reality, he released Jim's hand and turn toward Steven, "Man, I had no idea you had a brother, you should have been bringing him to the habitat buildings." 

Steven laughed, "Same old Sandburg. Jim's been doing the 'protect and serve' thing with the Army. He's in the process of getting out as we speak." 

Blair made all the right noises as Steven told him about Jim being on terminal leave and would soon be a retired army Colonel. "Well, there is no excuse not to bring him now." 

Julie laughed from behind him, "Leave it to you. Back not even a week and you are already recruiting," she thumped him on his back, making those around them laugh. It wasn't news to most of them how obsessive Blair could be at times. 

"Ah, well, what can I say?" He smiled. 

"Usually a whole lot," Steven deadpanned, making everyone laugh. 

For once Blair couldn't come up with a quick comeback, so he just shook his head and admitted defeat. Looking up into Jim's eyes, he saw them sparkling with amusement at the light bantering between himself, Steven and the others. 

The evening wore on and Blair made his rounds talking with his former students and colleagues. He spent some time and lost some money with the detectives while getting to know Rafe at the same time. He was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining they were, not to mention he fact that every one of Rafe's co-workers treated Julie as one of their own. Blair was happy for his friend and her children. They deserved the best considering their past and it looked like her detective would give her just that. 

Blair smiled as he excused himself from the game. It was time to go be 'Uncle Blair'. If there was one thing he missed more than anything else during his time in the jungle it was the quiet time he spent helping to get the kids ready for bed. It was almost like a ritual with him, one that he started when the kids were just home from the hospital. It had started out as a way to help Julie after a difficult delivery and turned into something he just enjoyed doing. When they moved out, he made a point of coming over a couple times a week, or having the kids with him, so there would always be one constant in their lives, besides their mother's love -- Uncle Blair and the bed time ritual. 

He guided the kids through their baths and their night time rituals before tucking them into bed and telling them stories from his trip. He watched them for a while after they drifted off to sleep. Roma looked so much like her mother with her auburn hair and dark blue eyes. She had often been mistaken for his daughter and it made Blair proud to think of these precious ones as 'his' kids. He was the closest thing they had to a father in the absence of their natural father, until now. He'd been there when they were born prematurely and he'd helped Julie bring them home from the hospital and walked the floors with them when they were colicky. Now Rafe was there for them. He'd have to talk to Rafe later about them... make sure the detective knew how special these kids were to him. 

A shadow in the doorway caused him to look up. "They missed you. I was forever hearing about 'Uncle Blair' I think they were testing me to see if I'd stick around under the pressure of having to live up to Uncle Blair." 

"I missed them too." Blair said, getting to his feet as Rafe came in to check on the kids. 

"I was jealous of you at first. I couldn't do anything right, not like you. It took me forever to figure out they were just testing to see if I'd stick it out or give up and split." Rafe confided in Blair. 

"Yeah," Blair chuckled, "they tend to do that to people. It's their own brand of litmus test to see if the man is worthy of their mom. No one has ever stood up to it before." Blair admitted. 

"I gathered that." Rafe turned away from the kids to look at Blair, "I don't want to take your place with them," He said quietly, not looking at Blair, "I know that you have a special relationship with them, especially since you've helped Julie raise them, like a father. Julie's told me about how you gave them a place to live and helped her take care of them while she was getting back on her feet and learning how to be a single parent. But then I guess she never really was a single parent since she had you?" 

Blair thought for a moment and shook his head, "No I guess she never was, never will be either." 

Rafe wasn't sure how to take Blair's comment so he decided to say what was on his mind, "I want to share them with you. May I?" 

Blair was stunned at Rafe's request. Only Julie had ever admitted that Blair was the closest thing to a father the kids had ever had. Now here was a complete stranger saying it to him--asking him to share the kids as if he were their father. Blair knew in his heart that they were the closest thing he'd ever have to kids of his own, so what he was about to say cut deeply on a certain level, but it also made his heart glad that his friend found someone like Rafe. "They need a full time father, but know this, Rafe. You hurt any of them you answer to me." 

Rafe nodded, "I didn't expect anything less." 

Julie appeared at the door. "Everything okay?" she asked. She'd been hesitant about the two of them alone, knowing Blair and how protective he could be of her and the kids. 

Blair stood and walked past her stopping to kiss her cheek, "Sure thing, babe. Everything's fine. Rafe and I were just talking." Letting her know, in his own way, that Rafe had passed his test. 

Julie looked at Rafe who just nodded and held out his hand to her. 

The three of them rejoined the party. Most of the students and college folk had left when Blair disappeared to take care of the kids. Now all that were left were the detectives, Steven and Jim. They sat around for a while longer, voices muted as to not wake the kids. Blair sat listening to the banter between the detectives and Julie. Joining in when he knew there was something to rib his friend about. Mostly though, he just sat quietly, watching everyone and one person in particular. Steven's brother, Jim. The taller man leaned against the window frame doing the same thing he was, watching. He was as much a stranger to this group as Blair was now that all the University people had left. 

Throughout the evening, Blair found himself drawn to making eye contact with Jim Ellison. Even now as he watched the older man standing there not quite relaxed but not totally uncomfortable either. It didn't matter that they were across a room from each other, he felt the draw to his friend's brother. He came out of his thoughts to see that Jim was now watching him with a wry smile on his face. Blair knew he'd been caught staring so he just smiled at Jim, hoping that maybe Jim would think it was just his way of being nice and trying to draw the quieter man out. Jim's answering smile, however, blew Blair away as it seemed to light Jim up and warm his soul at the same time. Maybe all of this was his own bisexuality coming back and reminding him that he'd been far too long without the sexual intimacy of either sex. 

Blair had the sudden urge to laugh when he and Jim locked eyes yet again. For some reason the lyrics to Some Enchanted Evening came floating through his head. 

Some enchanted evening  
You will find your true love  
across a crowded room  
and then you will know  
you'll see them again... 

No, he wasn't going to go that route. He, most certainly, was not Mary Martin to Jim's Enzio Pinza. Blair shook himself. He had to get out of there before he made a fool of himself and he was tired enough to do just that. 

"Jules, I'm beat, I need to go," he told his friend as she passed by on her way to the small kitchen area with a handful of empty plates. 

Blair said his good-byes to everyone who was left and got ready to leave almost forgetting that he had to take his pets and all their stuff with him. 

Julie recruited Jim and Steven, who were also going to take off, to help Blair get the dog's stuff to his jeep, making a couple trips from the loft to the car, carrying the beds, and dishes and toys. 

Blair was so tired he barely remembered the drive home, his internal autopilot navigated the roads. Or the fact the Ellison brothers had followed him home and helped him take his pets' paraphernalia up to his apartment. 

The only thing he did remember was the dreams about a quiet man with clear blue eyes. 

* * *

Two weeks. Blair couldn't believe it had already been two weeks since he returned to Cascade. He'd been so busy since his return he couldn't think. He hadn't noticed the passage of time, between unpacking his belongings in his new home and working on the syllabi for the classes he was teaching again and the new class added to the curriculum he was teaching for the first time. Now, instead of taking a weekend off and relaxing before classes started the middle of next week, he was spending his weekend working on a Habitat for Humanity house. 

To top it off, Jim was there. He wasn't obvious in any way. He was just there, quietly working in what was probably his standard way of doing things given his military career, efficiently and correctly. Blair had caught himself thinking about Jim over the past couple of weeks. Random thoughts would flicker through his mind while he was out walking the dogs. As Aztec shied away from a boy wanting to pet her, he remembered that she never seemed timid around Jim. He found himself wondering about the relationship between the two brothers. Sometimes it would be the most inane thought, other times he'd find himself wondering what was under denim shirt that hung so nicely off Jim's sloped shoulders. He'd managed to delude himself that the attraction he'd felt at Julie's apartment was all in his head, that it was just simple curiosity about a friend's brother, until yesterday. Steven had gone out of town unexpectedly so Jim had stepped in for him. 

Now, every time he looked up, there was Jim. If he wasn't catching the other man's eye across the shell of the house, then he'd look up and see the well-developed body covered by a tank top and a pair of well-worn jeans. Blair discovered he had zero concentration with Jim around. It wasn't as if they were really even talking all the time, in fact the only time they spent together was during lunch when the three of them shared the picnic lunch Julie packed for them, in spite of the fact that there was a sponsored lunch made for them. They spent a good part of Saturday and almost all of Sunday -- so far -- on the opposite sides of the house, but that didn't ease Blair's mind any. 

A string of expletives in several languages came spewing out as he hit his already sore thumb yet again. 

"Blair, are you okay?" Julie asked, coming over to check on her friend. 

"Yeah, just fine," Blair replied through clenched teeth. He looked up to see Jim's eye on him almost as if the older man had heard his swearing from the other room and was coming to check on him. 

"Somehow, I don't believe you," Julie told him. 

"Whatever," Blair replied sarcastically. 

"Who pissed in your Wheaties?" Julie asked, not put off by his attitude. 

"I don't eat Wheaties." He claimed defiantly. 

"You know what your problem is, Sandburg?" Julie asked, ignoring his mood. 

"I'm sure you're going to tell me." 

"You need to get laid. How long has it been?" 

Blair laughed, "You _so_ don't want to know." Leave it to Julie to ask a question like that. She's the only one who would dare and truth be told he'd expected her to ask it. 

"So what's your problem?" 

"There is no problem," Blair looked away from her, letting his loose hair fall and hide his face. 

Julie pushed his hair back, "Ahh, I see you're interested in someone." Blair's attempt at a non-committal shrug confirmed her suspicions. 

"Man or woman?" Julie asked. She was part of the close circle of friends who knew about Blair's bisexuality. She'd been there for him, through the rough patches, with both sexes in the years she'd known him. She watched Blair's reaction to the question and knew the answer -- man, and she had a good guess whom. She wasn't blind. 

"Not Jim Ellison?" she whispered, noticing his slight nod, "Oh Blair, he's..." 

"I know Jules," Blair interrupted. "He's _so_ not my type." 

"He's..." Julie started again. 

"Military." 

"Quiet." 

"Yeah, that too," Blair said quietly, looking up to see Jim walk through the room and look over at him and smile. 

"Damn good looking." Julie said smiling, noticing the two men glancing at one another. 

"Glad you noticed," he replied smugly. 

"I'd be blind not to." 

"And we know you aren't blind. Although there are time when I had my doubts." Blair teased, using an old joke they had shared during their time as a couple. 

Julie reached over and cupped his cheek, "Never blind, my friend, no matter what you say." 

Blair didn't respond to her, he didn't need to. She always knew when he needed the gentle reminder that no matter what else happened in his life she would always be there for him, as he was for her. 

"He also screams heterosexual," she commented going back to their conversation. Although she had her suspicions, she had seen enough that night at her loft and now this weekend to suspect that Jim was also interested. There was no way a totally straight man would spend the amount of time watching Blair that Jim did. Julie just didn't want to get Blair's hopes up and then have then quashed if she was wrong, so she held her tongue. 

"And therein lies the problem." Blair admitted quietly, looking away from her to watch Jim as he worked across the room. 

"You really don't do things the easy way, do you?" 

"You know me 'Do-it-the-Hard-Way-Sandburg'." 

Julie shook her head and laughed at his comment. The truth be told neither of them knew how to do it easily. 

"Can I give you a word of advice?" Julie asked. "Just be yourself. You collect people, bring Jim into that circle." 

"You're right, I'm just being stupid about this, it's not like I haven't found a straight man attractive before. I have managed to keep from jumping his bones." 

Julie laughed, "You can be so crude." 

"Yeah, well," Blair grinned, "What can I say?" 

"Do you really want me to answer that question?" Julie laughed at her dearest friend. 

"Not really." 

* * *

Blair leaned back in his chair. He was tired and sore and every time he moved, it reminded him that he wasn't in shape for the kind of work he'd done all weekend. It was only Monday and he dreaded the rest of the week if he felt this bad now. Somehow, not even the work done living in a jungle managed to make his muscles ache like building a house did. It was a good ache though. One Blair was glad to have which is why he worked with Habitat every chance he got. 

He only had another hour to stick around the University. He'd foolishly posted his office hours, so he had students stopping by all day; old students checking in with him for a first time, new students coming in earlier to meet him. Classes were starting in two days so he knew this wouldn't let up for another week after that. The undergrads always streamed in and out of his office, making sure their schedules were 'perfect'. 

A knock at the door brought his chair back upright, "Yeah, come in," he called gruffly, hoping it was either Julie or a student he could scare away by looking busy. 

"Blair?" 

The quiet timbre of the voice made him look up, "Jim! You surprised me. You are probably the last person I was expecting to see walk through my door." 

"Am I interrupting?" Jim asked as he came in and closed the door behind him. Aztec got up off the sofa and padded over to have Jim greet her with a scratch behind her ears. 

"No, I was just killing time until I could go home and hoping that you weren't another student with a problem." Blair laughed and pointed to the sofa, "Have a seat." 

Jim took a seat, still scritching the greyhound, "I was kind of at loose ends with Steven out of town and I don't exactly feel comfortable in his house without him there. I think the cleaning lady thinks I'm going to run off with the heirlooms or something. I thought I'd see if you wanted to go for a beer." Jim wasn't ready to admit out loud that he didn't know his brother very well. Their upbringing with a father always pitting them against each other and his own time in the military, usually stationed out of the country, wasn't conducive to closeness. Steven was as much of a stranger to him as Blair. So much so, that in a way it surprised him that he'd come back to Cascade and was staying with Steven, but he figured it was time to mend fences with his brother. In fact he'd be willing to bet the Professor knew his brother better than he did. 

"Man, any other time I'd be glad to, but I am beat after this weekend." Blair answered and leaned back in his chair, trying to stretch his stiff muscles. 

"No problem, maybe another time." Jim started to get up. 

"If you don't mind," Blair started then hesitated before continuing, "we could go back to my place. I don't think my body could handle spending an evening at a pub but we could go through the market and grab some things to make dinner." He was going to take Julie's advice and just be himself. 

"If you're sure." 

"As long as you don't mind my chaos. Not to mention the chaos the dogs can create. But it looks like you don't seem to mind them, especially since it looks like Aztec has already claimed you. She doesn't like anyone-especially most men. As it is she barely tolerates me." 

Jim smiled as he continued to pet the dog that was pressed up against him, "So you don't like people huh? Could have fooled me." Jim said to the greyhound. "Dinner at your place sounds fine." 

"Great! Make yourself comfortable for a bit, I can't leave yet." 

"No problem." Jim said and he sank back into the sofa. 

The phone rang effectively cut off any further conversation. Blair managed to hold up his end, while he watched as Jim got up and wandered around his office. Blair had to smile at Jim's inspection. Walking into his office was often a culture shock for the unprepared, and he had a feeling Jim was one of those unprepared. Freshman usually stared wide-eyed at the masks and other artefacts he had piled here and there. 

Jim looked at the photos that hung over the sofa. He assumed they were a history of Blair's academic life, leading from his first expedition as a green freshman to a new photo of him in South America taken last year. Jim tapped one frame and just by the position Blair knew it was one of he and Jules and the kids in Hawaii, when he went to study the Polynesian social structure one summer and taken Julie and the twins with him. Blair watched as Jim looked at the masks on the opposite walls, most of which were from Peru. He thought for a moment that Jim might have recognised one or two of the Peruvian ones by the way he looked at them. He seemed to have this strange far away expression on his face that Blair couldn't define. 

Jim ran his fingers across the spines of the books that lined the other walls. Most were what he expected, academic texts and references. Although there were a few children's books thrown in, leading him to believe that Julie's kids spent a good deal of time with Blair. He'd watched them at the party a couple weeks ago and it was obvious the affection they had for each other. When he finished his survey of the office he returned to the sofa and got comfortable. Aztec joined him and laid her head on his leg. 

Blair finished his phone call and they sat in a comfortable silence while Blair finished with his files. He closed the last folder and dropped it into a stack pronouncing it "Done". 

Jim looked up and smiled, "You can leave now?" 

"Yep. Let me grab my bag and the leashes and we can go," Blair said as he stood, already reaching for his leather satchel. 

* * *

Jim followed Blair back to his apartment, meeting him by his car as he parked in a space not far from the building. 

"Let's go through the market and get some food for dinner." Blair suggested, motioning toward the other side of the street where people bustled back and forth with their purchases. 

"Don't go out of your way." Jim said, not wanting to impose any more work on the other man who was already being kind enough to take in a stranger. 

Blair smiled, "It's no problem, I do this several times a week. I like fresh food." 

Jim conceded, "Lead the way then," he said motioning Blair on ahead of him and following Blair through the crowded, loud market. He watched as the younger man pulled the hair band from his hair, shaking free the riot of curls that had been contained by the tie before he tugged his shirttails from his jeans. Blair amazed him as he stopped to talk to half the people in the day stalls, knowing most of them by name. 

Blair made his way to what Jim assumed were the professor's favourite vendors to buy some fruits and vegetables. A stop at a fish vendor got them a salmon filet for dinner, with Blair asking a little belatedly, "You do like fish, don't you?" 

"Love it." Jim replied with a smile. Blair had no way to know that fishing was one of Jim's favourite past-times. 

Their last stop before heading down a maze of alleys filled with even more vendors was to a gourmet food store where Blair headed up to the cheese counter and ordered several kinds of cheeses, unknowingly including Jim's favourite, a sharp Vermont cheddar. The pungent smell from the cheeses and fresh olives made his head ache so he was glad when Blair led them out, after stopping to buy a bottle of wine. 

He fit into the whole market scene, Jim thought. He watched Blair and noticed how much he looked like one of them. His faded jeans snug but not skin tight, the collarless shirt untucked, showing the wrinkling where he'd had it tucked in at the University. Jim would have taken him for one of the market workers had he not just been in his office and known that the shirt had been tucked in jeans that bore a designer label and topped off with a tweed blazer. The curly hair that had been restrained by a hair tie with a Peruvian ornament was now loose and wild looking. 

"Hey Blair!" a call brought him up short in front of a Pasta Bar. 

"Pauly, hey man, what's up?" 

"Here're those CD's you loaned me. Awesome tunes. Thanks man," he tried to hand the CDs to Blair, but all Blair could do was raise his already full hands. 

"Jim, man, could you?" Blair nodded toward the CDs. "Glad you liked them, I'll stop down another time and we can talk more." 

"You bet. Have a good evening." 

Jim grabbed the CDs and fell into step next to Blair as they headed down an alley and up a darkened set of steps under a building to another alley where Blair's building opened up to. Jim was amazed at the little shops that were lining the alley. Milagro's Mexican Art. Dog Alley. 

Blair led him to a stone arch doorway with a wrought iron gate and ivy growing around the edges of the gate. Using a keycard, pulled from his wallet, Blair opened the door and waited for Jim to go ahead of him. He followed Blair and the dogs through a courtyard and down an open breezeway to another doorway. He vaguely remembered this was Blair's door. It had been dark when he and Steven followed Blair home that night a couple weeks ago. 

Jim had expected the same organised chaos as Blair's office and wasn't disappointed. The walls and ceiling were painted a mottled green, dark at the base and lightening up to a light green at the top. Jim thought it looked like the canopy of a rainforest. To the right was the kitchen area and a cooking island with bar stools lining one side. Opposite the kitchen was the living area with a large brick fireplace and two oversized sofas with their tribal print throws and pillows. A large wood cabinet, which Jim suspected housed the stereo and television sat tucked into a corner at an angle. The entire west wall was a window with French doors leading out onto a balcony that was half the size of the apartment, and a view of the market area and the harbour. 

To the left was Blair's bedroom. A large king size bed, with an abundance of pillows strewn about on the down comforter. Jim watched as both Aztec and Maya made themselves at home, thus explaining why Blair would need a king-size bed. Shoji screens blocked off a section of the room closest to the door and Jim assumed that was where Blair's wardrobes were, the jeans hanging over the top was rather a dead give-a-way to that fact. Opposite where he stood was an L-shaped desk piled high with books and papers. A small beanbag wolf and panther sat perched on top of his computer monitor. The desk chair had an Indian blanket thrown over; no doubt it to disguise the institutional look. 

Books and more books. The bookcases lining the walls were brimming with books to the point that there were books piled in front of them. Jim's fingers itched to go look through the books; reading had always been one of his favourite past-times. Jim had a good idea that most of the books were anthropology related. In the short time he'd known Blair he'd already figured out the young Professor was obsessed with Anthropology. Tribal masks decorated the higher portions of the walls. They were randomly placed on the walls in the places to make it look as if they were hanging from trees. 

Everywhere he looked there were signs that Julie's kids made themselves at home here as well. Games stuffed under the coffee table, a basket of those collectable beanbag toys that looked like they were loved instead of collected, a small sized sweatshirt lying over the back of a chair. 

Jim hadn't noticed Blair had put the bags he was carrying down until he felt his warm hand on his back. He could feel the heat from the simple touch lingering, warming him. 

"I'll take the CDs now." Blair said reaching for them. "So what do you think?" 

Jim blushed slightly, he'd been so caught up in looking at the apartment, he'd forgotten he even still had the music. "Music or the apartment?" 

Blair laughed, "Both?" 

Jim looked through them again -- Riot Girls, Enigma, Bare Naked Ladies, Ella Fitzgerald, Tim Hearsey. "Pretty diverse in your music tastes, and the apartment, much different from the all white place with mounds of boxes I saw a couple weeks ago. I like it." 

"That's right, you did see it. I was so tired by the time I got home that some super model could have walked in and I wouldn't have remembered. Hey, do you want a beer?" Blair asked as he started to put away the groceries and Jim settled onto a stool. 

"Sure." 

Blair had his head stuck in the refrigerator grabbing the beers when he heard the door open, either Jim was leaving--which he didn't think was the case--or Julie had arrived, seeing as how she was the only one who had a key and keycard to his apartment. 

"Blair?" 

"Ouch!" Blair hit his head backing out of the fridge. "Jules, what's up? I wasn't expecting you today." 

"Hi, Jim," she said before turning to Blair, "You forgot, didn't you? After all your begging last night when you dropped me off at home. I can't believe you forgot." 

"Forgot?" Blair rubbed his head briefly, "Oh man, the massage. Jules, I totally spaced on it. It's been one of those days." 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Julie laughed, she knew exactly why Blair had spaced on the fact he was getting a massage and that reason was sitting at his bar with a cold beer in his hand and a smile on his face as he watched them talk. "So do you still want one, or do you want to wait?" she asked nodding toward Jim. 

"Maybe we should wait. Can you squeeze me in tomorrow? I promise I won't forget." Blair suggested opening his own beer and talking a long drink. 

"No, go ahead." Jim suggested, "If you don't mind me here, I can always look through your books to keep myself occupied." 

Blair looked at him, "You sure?" he managed to keep his surprise from showing on his face but it was impossible to keep from his voice. Blair wasn't quite sure what to make of Jim's wanting to stay. 

Jim nodded, smiling. 

"Okay." Blair replied, trying not to read to much into Jim's desire to stick around, but feeling the thrill of it anyway. 

"Go take one of your hot showers and I'll show Jim around some." Julie suggested, tossing her bag onto Blair's bed, "Hey Sandburg, your sheets clean?" she teased as Blair disappeared into the bathroom. 

"Ha ha Jules, very funny. Yes, they are clean." Blair shut the door a little harder than necessary when he headed into the bathroom making both Julie and Jim wince from the sound. 

"Don't mind him," Julie told Jim, "He gets grumpy when he's tired and sore." 

Jim laughed, "I noticed this afternoon when I stopped by his office." 

Julie looked at him quickly. She remembered her conversation with Steven last week. He'd told her quite a bit about Jim, and apparently Steven thought Jim wouldn't open up and make friends. She had a feeling Jim wasn't as closed off as his little brother seemed to think. In fact she'd almost bet the opposite. "At loose ends without Steven here?" she asked. 

"Kind of. It's not like I've never been here before, I mean I grew up here. It's just been a long time and so much has changed." Jim replied as he walked around the condo, still taking in everything. 

Julie led him to the wooden chest and opened the top door revealing the stereo and TV Jim suspected were there, "How long has it been since you lived here?" 

Jim thought for a moment, "Hmm, maybe 25 years. I left and never looked back." 

Julie didn't ask anymore questions. She had a feeling he'd revealed a lot with his two answers already. She handed him the remote if he wanted it and he handed her Blair's pile of CD's from earlier. 

"Music; good choice," she grinned. "That is, if you can stand his choice of music." 

Jim laughed, "Yeah, it seems pretty varied. But I do like Ella." 

"That was a very politically correct answer." Julie grabbed the CD and fished through Blair's other disks, pulling out two more; both Jazzy blues. She put them in the stereo. "There. That should give us something to listen to." 

Jim settled down on the sofa and flipped through a book Blair had left lying there while Julie went back to getting her things ready for Blair's massage. Aztec joined him and laid her head on his lap, waiting for him to scratch her ears. 

Blair walked out of the bathroom wrapped in an oversized royal blue robe, with bellows of steam following him. He saw that Julie had everything laid out, but she wasn't sitting there waiting for him. He saw why when he walked around the shoji screen. She was sitting with Jim looking over a photo album Blair had out showing the kids last week. 

"Geez Jules, you couldn't wait to lay open my secrets, could you?" He said in mock disgust. 

Jim started to protest, she hadn't told him anything when he felt Julie's hand on his leg. 

"Just be glad I didn't pull out the pictures of you as a scrawny 24 year old grad student, from when we were in Peru together..." 

"Jules..." he tried to warn her. 

Jim caught on to the good-natured teasing between them. It was obvious they had rules about what could be used for harassment in a relationship. They wouldn't still be friends if they didn't. 

"So, can I get this massage, or are you not finished humiliating me yet?" Blair asked, fighting the smile that threatened to betray his stern voice. 

Julie got up and took the album she and Jim had finished looking at and put it back in the bookcase. She ran her fingers across the bindings of the other albums and pulled one out. "Here, Jim, take a look at this one. It's the portfolio of nudes I did of Blair." 

"Damnit Jules!" Blair almost sounded embarrassed by Julie's latest jab. He might even have convinced them if he'd been able to keep a straight face. 

"Relax, you jerk, it's the album I put together for you from your most recent trip." 

"I don't know, I think I'd much rather see the nudes." Jim chimed in getting caught up in the teasing. 

"Oh hell, now I'm sunk. I can't fight both of you." Blair threw up his hands and sank down on the bed waiting for Julie and secretly thrilled that Jim would even tease about wanting to see nude pictures of him. "Jim, do you mind if Julie gives me my massage nude?" He asked. He didn't want to make Jim uncomfortable, knowing full well that Julie gave her massages on bare skin. 

Jim looked up and cocked his eyebrow. "Julie gives massages in the nude?" 

They stared at him for a moment before they were reduced to near hysterical laughter. 

He waited until they stopped laughing and then said quietly, "No, I don't mind if you're nude, Blair." 

Jim turned back to the album Julie had given him and flipped through the pages totally missing the look that passed between the friends. Nudity didn't bother him. All the time he spent in the military with communal showers pretty much stripped away any modesty he might have had. 

"So which one do you want me to use?" Jim heard Julie ask Blair. 

"What scents do you have this time?" Blair replied. 

"Plain cocoa butter, Frankincense and cinnamon, or sage." 

Blair thought for a moment, "Well you know I'm not a vanilla kinda of guy so lets try the sage. It's new, right?" 

"Yeah, it is." Julie looked at Jim to see if the older man had heard Blair's comment, knowing it also referred to his less than straight lifestyle. 

Jim had looked over with a weird expression but nothing else told if Blair's comment had been heard. Jim started to wander around, partially as to not seem like a voyeur, and partially because he was curious. He looked to see what kind of other music Blair listened too and was on his way to the bookcases when he stopped near the bed. 

* * *

"May I?" He asked Julie. He wanted to check out the different scents of massage bars. 

"Sure," Julie waved her hand to the pile of bags that held the individual scented bars. 

Jim opened each one and took a quick sniff. Shaking his head he reached for the bar Julie was holding. Taking it from her he sniffed at it and smiled, "You made a good choice. I like that one too." 

"Remind me to get some more of it then," Julie laughed and watched as Jim continued to rub his fingers together and sniff the oil. She could feel Blair practically vibrate under her hands at Jim's admission about liking the same scent. "Steven likes the plain cocoa butter. That reminds me, Jim, when your brother gets back into town tell him to call me right away or I'll take his missing two weeks in a row out on his sorry backside." 

"You give Steven massages too?" Jim asked as he moved toward the bookcases. 

Julie looked at him funny, "Oh you don't know, do you. I left school between my sophomore and junior years of college. My husband thought I should be doing something that would make money, so I went to massage school and became a massage therapist. When I left him four years later and came back to school, I used the money I made to help pay my tuition. I spent a couple years going part time; partly because of the kids, and partly because it was all I could afford, which is why I'm just finishing my Masters degree and Blair has his Ph.D." 

"That was great you could do it on your own." Jim praised her. 

"Not totally on my own," Julie said patting Blair's bare backside. "I had someone with barely more money than me helping me out and giving me a place to live until I was able to get on my feet. Of course that someone still helps me out, every chance he gets." 

Jim looked at Julie then nodded toward Blair. It was pretty obvious who that someone was. 

She smiled and nodded, her eyes bright. 

"Goes both ways, babe." Blair mumbled from his pillow. 

They fell into silence again listening to the music as it randomly shifted between songs and artists. Jim had picked a book from the shelves and made himself comfortable at Blair's desk with his feet propped up on a clear spot in the centre. Judging from the little lumps of dirt there, Blair often did the same thing. 

"Anything else hurt?" Julie asked as she finished working the last of the large knots from his shoulders and upper back. 

"My ass and my legs." Blair grumbled. 

Julie watched as Jim shifted briefly in his chair and then went back to reading. She wondered if he'd heard Blair's comment. _If_ he had heard and the shifting was a reaction to the thought of Blair's backside... Julie had to think. She went back over, in her mind, the few times she'd seen Jim and Blair together. Her party, she'd noticed how they always seemed to be locking eyes and Jim had this uncanny ability to know exactly where Blair was in the room. She'd seen him look up and look directly at Blair without have to look around the room for him. It was the same way when they were working on the habitat house this past weekend. It even seemed like he was trying to always be in the same room as Blair even when he was supposed to be on the other side of the house. Julie continued to massage Blair's back. She needed to come up with a plan to help her friend along. There wasn't much she didn't know about Blair and she knew he'd hide any feelings he might have for Jim under the cover of the outgoing Anthropologist. 

Blair had a habit of bringing the most unlikely people together and making the group work. She'd never seen so many different types of people be totally at ease with him and with each other. He always managed to find some kind of common ground for all of them to share. Steven was the common ground for bringing Jim into their circle and by the looks of it Jim didn't mind being added. It also appeared Jim was a lot like Blair in one particular way; they were both very tactile people, using touch to convey expressions. Julie thought it could work in their favour. Now all she needed to do was encourage them to spend some time together. 

Bouts of conversation were intermixed with periods of silence as Julie continued her massage. Jim was grateful for both the conversation and the book he was supposed to be reading. It was distracting him from watching Julie massaging Blair's compact body. It had been bad enough when the towel covered Blair's backside but now it had been removed so she could massage the firm round cheeks that Jim had watched while encased in denim. Now with Julie running her hands over the well-rounded cheeks and skimming the dark crack between them, she caught Jim watching and winked at him. He could feel his blush rising and he quickly looked back to the book he was looking at to cover the fact he'd been caught watching. He couldn't not look. It was too enticing a view. Julie increased the massage dipping further into the crease and opening it. She had to know he was watching her and watching her movements, Jim shook his head. He knew she was doing it just for his benefit, especially since she'd caught him watching so intently. 

Julie's movements drew Blair out of his massage-induced haze, "Umm, Jules." 

Julie looked over at Jim, like a kid who'd gotten her hand caught in the cookie jar, and she smiled and shrugged. 

She smacked his backside, "How's that? Have I done enough damage for one day?" 

Blair gathered his wits, "Probably. Can I get another one in a couple of days to repair any lasting damage?" He needed to get Julie away from his body. She knew all his buttons and had been pushing one pretty hard. He _so_ didn't need to get aroused at this moment and he was dangerously close to it. 

Julie chuckled. Blair had often told her he needed a few days to recuperate from her deep muscle massages. He also usually ended up having her do a second massage a few days later to work out any other sore spots. 

Jim discreetly turned back to the bookcases while Blair got up and pulled his robe back on, ducking behind the screen to get dressed. 

Julie packed up her towels and the spare bars and stuffed them into the carry-all bag she used. "You know what you should do, Blair," she led Jim over to the sofa and together they sat until Blair reappeared. 

"No, Jules." Blair emerged from behind the screen wearing a pair of holey jeans and a denim shirt. "But I'm sure you are going to tell me," 

Jim turned so he could look at Julie as they talked. Julie, however, was not what caught his eye. He watched as Blair walked out from behind the screen where he'd been dressing. Jim couldn't help but notice how Blair's chest was framed by the shirt the younger man had left unbuttoned and hanging loose. A line of hair spread across the expanse of the toned body then tapered to a line that disappeared into the younger man's jeans. He shook his head, trying to get his mind of the compact body in front of him and commented. "You two sound like an old married couple." 

"Just wait until you've been around him longer, you'll end up sounding like us too." Julie told him laughing at the face Blair made at her as he handed her the last towel to stuff into her bag. 

"We might as well be," Blair and Julie said at the same time then laughed. 

"We'd kill each other," Julie said as she batted Blair playfully in the arm as they walked toward the door. 

"We've been friends longer than most people have been married." Blair added, "What is it now? Fourteen years or something like that?" 

"Something like that." Julie answered. "Anyway, Sandburg, with Steven out of town, you should show Jim around Cascade and reintroduce him to his home town." 

"Sounds like a good idea," Blair admitted. "You game?" he turned to ask Jim. 

"I'm game, if you can spare the time with classes and all." Jim actually looked forward to the possibility of spending more time with the young professor and getting to know him. 

"Oh yeah, besides I'll need something to do so I won't kill the freshmen." Blair chuckled as he held Julie's bag out for her. 

"I'll leave you to your dinner. I need to go pick the kids up soon anyway." Julie announced as she grabbed her bag and headed toward the door. "Jim." She waved at him. "Blair, call me." She kissed him then bolted. 

"Is she always like that?" Jim asked as Blair closed the door behind her. 

"Yeah," Blair sighed. "Still up for dinner?" 

Jim's reply was cut off by Julie coming back, "I almost forgot, Jags are playing an expo game in two weeks. Blair, it'll be a great time for you to have your housewarming party." 

"Okay, already, I'll have a party. Now get." Blair laughed at her. He knew she wouldn't have forgotten his promise of having a housewarming party. 

"I'm going." She called as she ran back out the door, grinned, very pleased with herself. Phase one of her plan was working. "Don't forget." 

"I won't. Party. Two weeks. Got it. Bye Jules." Blair chuckled as his friend ducked out the door again. 

"She's something else," Jim said, shaking his head as he rose to join Blair by the cooking island. 

"You have no idea, Jim. You have no idea." Blair told the other man, chuckling as he pulled the steaks out of the refrigerator. 

"I have a feeling I'm going to find out." Jim commented. 

"You most definitely will, my friend. You most definitely will." 

* * *

Blair stumbled out of bed, _damn, overslept_ he thought to himself as he looked at the clock. He had to get the dogs out and then make sure they had everything for this party Julie had wanted him to throw. His friend had gotten carried away inviting people and he swore most of the Anthropology department was coming as well as Rafe and his co-workers. 

The past two weeks had flown by as Blair held true to his offer of showing Jim around Cascade. He'd taken the soon to be ex-army officer around to a few of the new museums, including the Anthropology Museum run by the University, which was Blair's pride and joy. It was where he spent a lot of his time. If he wasn't perusing the open archives for something to use for research or as a prop or two for a class, then he used the large room with the totem poles as a quiet meditation place. He knew his love of the University Museum spilled over in the tour he gave Jim. 

He didn't subject Jim to totally cultural things. They could often be found playing pick up basketball with students during lunch or enjoying the quiet company of one another grilling dinner on Blair's balcony in the evenings. 

They even spent the previous weekend camping and fishing. Blair took Jim to his favourite fishing stream. The limit of one fish per person per day was just enough to give the men their dinner for the day. 

Julie had grumbled every time she ran into him about the fact that the party was going to be the first time she'd actually get to spend time with Blair since the massage she gave him almost two weeks earlier. What Blair didn't know was that his best friend was quite happy she hadn't seen him because of the time he'd been spending with Jim. 

Blair stumbled out of bed and wobbled half asleep over to the sofa to wake Jim. The older man had taken to spending the night on the days Steven's cleaning lady had been there, usually three times a week. Blair had made his offer for Jim to use his sofa after Jim had come over the day after the cleaning ladies visit with a headache he had trouble getting rid of from the smell of the cleaning products. 

"Jim, man, wake up." Blair pushed on Jim's bare shoulder. 

"Huh? What?" Jim stirred and rolled over to look at Blair as he leaned over the back of the sofa. 

"I'm going to take the dogs out. Then breakfast. You promised last night you'd cook." 

"What time is it?" Jim asked rubbing his eyes and reaching for the watch he'd laid on the coffee table the night before. 

"Nine-ish." 

"Don't bother with the dogs. I took them out about an hour and a half ago. Az woke me up." 

"You did? Thanks man. I must have been really out cold not to notice." 

"You were." Jim sat upright and stretched. Aztec moved from her spot curled up around his feet. 

Blair looked at the two of them. "You know Jim one, of these days you might as well take her home with you. She's more your dog than she ever was mine and I've had her for three years." 

Jim reached over and petted the greyhound, "No Chief, she'd miss you. I know for a fact that she cuddles up with you at night." 

"Jim, you're delusional. I'll bet you dinner for a week she spent all night with you." 

"I want steaks and baked potatoes with real butter every night. Oh and pasta, and Chinese." Jim said smugly as he got up to follow Blair into the kitchen. 

"In your dreams. Just how do you know she slept with me last night?" Blair asked walking into the kitchen. 

"I couldn't sleep so I got up to get a book and I saw her curled up right behind your knees." Jim leaned over to touch the spot, his head close to Blair's hip. 

Neither one of them heard Julie and the kids until they were already in the door. "Now this is an interesting sight to walk in on." The innuendo of her teasing was not lost on either man. 

Jim straightened immediately and blushed at having been caught in that position by Julie and the kids. He straightened and looked at Blair, "Dinner, all week." 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jules, what are you doing here so early?" Blair asked walking over to where she stood in the doorway, giving her a quick kiss. He was surprised to see her and even with her teasing a moment ago he had a feeling that something wasn't quite right with his friend. She didn't have her usual sparkle. He started to worry that it might have something to do with the fact she'd been in court all week with her ex-husband. 

She tipped her head, "Oh damn, I-I didn't want to do this," She stuttered 

Both men were around her instantly and hugging her from either side. Jim looked over at the kids then went to grab Blair's oversized blue robe and joined them while Blair took Julie aside and let her collect herself. 

"Uncle Jim, are you living with Uncle Blair now?" Sam asked. 

"No, I just spent the night on the sofa last night. Blair and I were out late last night and I don't like staying at Steven's house after his cleaning lady has been there. The smell of the cleaning supplies she uses gives me a headache." 

"That's kinda cool that Uncle Blair lets you stay over like that." Roma added. 

"Yeah, it is Blair's a good friend, but then I think you already know that." Jim ruffled their hair some, "So what are you going to watch?" 

"Scooby Doo," they cried. 

"Well here, curl up in the blankets I used and get comfy. I was just about to make breakfast for Blair so I'll make some extra for you and your Mom. How does that sound?" 

"Pancakes?" Sam asked, hopefully. 

"Waffles?" Roma chimed in. 

"Nope. French toast. Secret Ellison recipe. Sally, our housekeeper when I was growing up, used to make it for Steven and me." Jim explained 

After Julie had composed herself again she and Blair sat at the bar watching Jim with the kids. 

"Slept on the sofa, did he?" Julie prodded, teasing Blair would take her mind off her other problems. Problems she didn't want to think about until she had to face them. 

"Yes, he did. Jules, what are you getting at?" 

"Only that you two have been practically inseparable since I ran into you here two weeks ago for your massage." 

"Jules, he's just a friend." Blair tried to protest as they watched Jim make his way around into the kitchen. 

"French toast sound okay to you two?" Jim asked. 

"Yeah." They both said at once. 

Jim noticed that Julie still didn't look okay. "Julie, if you don't mind me asking, what happened in court this week." Jim asked, while he pulled out the things he would need to mix up their breakfast. Blair was telling him a little about what was going on with Julie and her ex-husband, who suddenly reappeared on the scene, over custody of the kids but he hadn't heard what had happened in court the day before. 

"Not good which is why I'm over here early. Mitch got the restraining order rescinded and he now gets visitation rights. Today is the first day. I am so scared he's going to take them and run, or even worse, hurt them." Julie had far too many memories of the pain that Mitch had caused her during their marriage. 

Blair stood and held her, "Why now?" 

"Because he has some new job and a new wife and he doesn't want to look like some deadbeat dad who doesn't care for his kids from a previous marriage. He walked out on them almost 8 years ago and now he expects them to come running to him." Julie said as she started to cry. 

Blair held her as she finally let go and cried, absorbing her tears with his T-shirt. Jim was glad she came over and at least if her ex-husband had to make an appearance picking his kids up from a room full of cops and ex-military men might put some fear of god into him. He wiped his hands on a towel and walked around to them. Resting his hand on her back, he whispered, "Nothing is going to happen to those kids, Julie. I promise you that." Then he walked over to where Sam and Roma were curled up in his blankets and joined them to watch the cartoons, snuggling one on either side of him. Breakfast could be put on hold for a little while. Julie needed the comfort her old friend could give. 

Julie watched Jim join the kids, comforting them and talking to them. He kept them occupied so Julie had some time to pull herself together without being under their watchful eyes and upsetting them even more then they already were by knowing they had to go with a man they hardly knew. 

"You know Blair, you've found yourself a good one there. Don't mess it up." 

"Julie, I told you it's not like that. Jim and I are friends. I'm not going to do anything the jeopardise that." 

She just nodded a 'for now' running through her mind, but she left it unvoiced. She didn't want to push Blair. He'd only get uncomfortable around Jim if she harassed him more than the gentle nudges she was giving. 

When the cartoon ended the kids clamoured for Jim to make his French toast since he'd been tempting them with little details of how good they tasted during every commercial. 

Jim put his commanding officer skills to good use and had everyone busy helping out. He had Sam stirring the batter and Roma dipping the bread while he cooked. Julie was put in charge of cooking the bacon and Blair set the table. He knew the activity would be good for Julie. It would help keep her and the kids minds off her ex-husband's arrival later that day. 

* * *

The party had been in full swing for several hours when Rafe's captain, Simon Banks, arrived, "Sandburg, you are going to have every neighbour in the building complaining about the noise." 

"Nope, sorry Simon. I invited them all. They can't call you when they are here making noise." Blair grinned at the gruff police captain. He'd caught on early that the gruffness was all a faade and that the police captain was really an old softie. Just watching him with Sam and Roma was enough to confirm that. 

It was getting close to the mid-afternoon game time and a lot of the party attendees who were just there to check out the professor's new digs and get a few beers had already departed, especially when at least half of the major crimes department showed up en mass. There was something about cops, even off duty ones, that made college student flee. 

Blair and Rafe had already talked about having his co-workers around as kind of a 'don't mess with them or you're toast' kind of attitude when Mitch came to pick up the kids. It really hadn't surprised him when he'd gone to Rafe to talk to him about Mitch, that the detective already had some very good ideas on how to make sure Sam and Roma were going to come out of this visitation okay. Blair was glad to hear that. The gut feeling that Rafe was the perfect man for his friend the Blair had on their first meeting was being confirmed in spades every time he had met the detective since and he couldn't be happier. Julie deserved the loving she was receiving from Rafe, she'd endured enough pain and heartache at her ex-husband's hands. 

A buzz at the door brought the room almost to a collective silence. Blair walked over to the intercom, "Yes." 

"I'm Mitch Jamison, and I'm here to pick up my kids." 

"I'll buzz you in follow the shaded walkway around to the last door on the left." Blair instructed. 

Julie began to shake. Rafe came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist and held her, allowing her to draw strength from him. Jim had gathered the kids on the balcony but kept them outside until either Blair or Julie motioned for them. They were nervous about seeing a father they had never met so Jim told them funny stories about his brother to keep them calm and make them laugh. 

Blair opened the door to the knock and stepped back as Mitch entered. He wanted to keep the man's attention focused on him rather than have Mitch focus on Julie. If Mitch decided to get mean, he would be able to handle it better than Julie who was barely keeping it together even with all the distractions he and Jim had tried to employ all day. 

"Well, well, well, look who we have here. If it isn't Dr. Sandburg. I might have known you'd still be sniffing around." 

"I see you did your homework, Jamison." Blair replied sarcastically. 

"Oh yeah, I know all about you, Sandburg. You have no qualms about sleeping with another man's wife." 

Blair stood tall under the insults being hurled at him by Julie's ex-husband. "No, you're wrong. Julie and I never slept together while you were married. No matter what your deluded mind tells you. Julie was my student and that was all." 

"So you kept saying. But I don't believe you. Not then and not now." Mitch taunted. 

Blair struggled to keep his temper in check. He _so_ didn't want to rise to Mitch's baiting. "I don't care what you believe. I know the facts, Julie knows the facts and that is all that is important." 

"Oh yeah, Mister Just-the-Facts. It was you who influenced her to leave and take the kids away from me." Mitch accused. 

"Yeah," Blair snorted, "Damn straight I did after you beat the shit out of her and sent her to the hospital while she was pregnant. You forfeited your right to be a father when you hurt their mother." Blair was angry. He was pouring all of the anger he'd held for eight years or more into his argument, no longer caring that this might be what Mitch wanted him to. He didn't condone abuse and it didn't matter who the victim was he'd fight for them. The fact that it was his best friend made the argument in more personal. 

"Those were my kids, Sandburg. Not yours. Mine." 

"No, Mitch, "Julie finally spoke from the stability of Rafe's arms, "They were your own little power trip over me, and I finally said enough was enough. I wasn't going to let you even have a chance to hurt them the way you'd hurt me." 

"You were a worthless bitch. All you wanted to do was go to the university. You just wanted to hang around your little fag boy college friend." Mitch was getting to the viscous side of his anger now. His hatred of Julie was very apparent. He turned to Blair for his next verbal attack, "And you probably couldn't even make it with a woman if you tried." 

Rafe held Julie and listened to the rantings coming from Julie's ex-husband. 

Smiling inwardly, he knew that should anything happen to the kids, there would be no way that a judge could refute the testimony or Mitch's viciousness toward Julie from almost an entire department's worth of cops. 

Blair released the hold he'd been keeping on his anger, "Listen here, you scumbag. My private life is none of your business. Those kids are my business, whether you like it or not. They may be your flesh and blood but they are more my kids than they will ever be yours. You trashed that right when you beat their mother and put her into the hospital while she was pregnant and again after they were born. I raised them and you know what, they are great kids. But not because of having some genetic code that belongs to you, but because of the people who love them." 

"Don't lecture me about fatherhood. Just get them in here so we can leave." Mitch sneered, not bothering to hid his dislike of Blair or Julie. 

Blair looked over to where Jim was standing with the kids on the balcony and waved them inside. He was very glad Jim had taken them outside so they wouldn't have to hear the ugliness spewing from Mitch's mouth. It was never good to hear bad things about another person but to hear it about their own mother would have been worse. Blair with the help of his friend had saved the kids from hearing it, at least this time. Who knew what they would have to deal with as an aftermath of this visit with their biological father? 

Jim stooped in front of them, "Remember who loves you?" 

"Mom and Blair, and you Uncle Jim." They told him. 

"And..." He prompted. 

"And Rafe," they smiled. 

"Okay, lets go in now." Jim ushered the little ones in through the French doors. 

Mitch stood and watched them, "Kids!" he bent over and held out his arms to them. 

Sam and Roma stopped short of Mitch's embrace and very politely said, "Hello, sir." 

"Sir? Is that any way to say hello to your father?" he demanded and they backed up just a little. 

"Mitch give them a chance. They've never seen you before." Julie suggested. 

Mitch shook his head. "Fine, let's go then." he huffed, his displeasure apparent. 

Blair called them over and knelt in front of them. Turning to Sam first, "You take are of your sister now, okay?" Sam nodded, "Do you have Luther?" Sam held up his leopard, "Do you have all your toys in your backpack and a change of clothes in case you get dirty?" Sam nodded again. "Good. That's my boy." They hugged and Blair whispered, "I love you," in the boy's ear. 

A small "I love you too, Uncle Blair," was all anyone standing close to them heard. 

Next Blair turned to Roma, "Do you have everything?" Blair asked. And watched as she nodded, "Tickles?" she held up her stuffed tiger. He pulled her close and held her tight. 

Jim noticed how much those two looked alike. It was easy to see how people often confused them for father and daughter. 

Roma's voice carried as she hugged Blair again, "I love you, Uncle Blair." 

"I know, angel, I love you too." Blair sighed and stood again, "Now go say good-bye to your Mom and Rafe." The kids scrambled over to where Julie and Rafe stood. Rafe caught Sam in mid air as the little boy threw himself at the police detective. Julie bent down to hug her daughter tightly to her. 

When the good-byes were made, Blair and Simon caught Mitch before he walked out the door. "One mark on them or they aren't home on time and you answer to me." Simon warned him, showing his badge. 

"You don't scare me." 

Simon moved in closer, "I should. I have a copy of every police report for domestic disturbance and every hospital report acknowledging the abuse." 

Mitch paled and turned on his heel and left, leaving the kids to follow in his wake. 

"Oh god." Julie cried as she collapsed as soon as Mitch walked out the door. Rafe caught her as she sank to the floor. Blair was over to her in an instant and between him and Rafe they moved her to Blair's bed. "Promise me, they will be okay. Please." 

"Shhh, Julie, they will be. We'll make sure of it." Rafe soothed. 

"Jim, can you get her a drink of water please?" Blair called. 

Most everyone missed the buzzer and the knock at the door so Jim was surprised to see Simon open the door to his brother. "Hey, Steven." Jim said as he grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water for Julie. Returning to hand Julie the glass he looked at Blair, "You stay with her, I'll play host for a while." 

"So who was that with the kids? I ran into them on the sidewalk." Steven asked Simon. 

"Their biological father." Simon said simply. 

"Whoa...How's Julie." Steven asked. He'd known Julie and Blair for years and had heard enough to know that her ex was _not_ a prince among men. 

"She's not doing good, bro," Jim answered, returning from giving Julie her water. "This is the first time since shortly after the kids were born she's seen her ex-husband and it wasn't a pretty scene." 

No one was surprised when Jim took over hosting the gathering of now subdued friends. His presence with Blair was pretty much a forgone conclusion these days. Jim made sure that everyone had full beers and gathered them around the TV for the pre-game show, allowing Julie to have some privacy with her best friend and her lover. 

Blair joined them after a while, shaken and quiet. Rafe stayed with Julie while she slept, letting her use his lap as a pillow while he gently rubbed her back. When the game started, everyone was gathered around the set and in no time they got rowdy and slowly returned to their normal selves. Blair sat on the floor, leaning against Jim's legs, drawing comfort from the older man's closeness. 

* * *

The closer it got to nine o'clock the more nervous Julie got. She was understandably worried about what had transpired with Mitch and the kids all day. Most everyone had left and now all that were left at Blair's were him and Rafe, Simon, Steven and of course Jim. 

When the Jags game ended, Blair had the foresight to put in a cheesy movie you couldn't help but laugh at or groan about. It was enough to keep them distracted for a while but the closer the time got to the appointed hour when Mitch would return Sam and Roma the group got quieter and quieter, just waiting. 

The buzzer startled them and Blair went to answer, "Yes." 

"I have Sam and Roma." Mitch's tone flat over the speaker. 

Julie took a deep breath in relief and Rafe squeezed the hand he'd been holding 

"Come on in." Blair instructed as he pushed the button to release the lock on the outer door. 

Blair opened the door and stood in the doorway waiting for them. Jim had grabbed Aztec's collar, the dog sensing the tension stood and started to growl. There hadn't been a problem with the dogs earlier when Mitch came to pick up the kids because Jim had them out on the balcony with him and the kids. Now though, was a different matter and Aztec's dislike of most men in general didn't help matters. 

"Uncle Blair!" the kids chorused when they saw him waiting for them. 

"Hey kids!" he said as he leaned down and hugged them, "Your Mom's inside. Go on in." 

"Not going to invite me in, Sandburg? That's awful rude of you." Mitch said snidely. 

Blair stood aside, "By all mean, please do come in." He made an exaggerated sweeping motion with his hand. 

"Well, isn't this an intimate little gathering. I might have known you'd keep some of the back-up around." Mitch sneered noticing the fact that there were 4 taller men standing behind the sofa watching where Julie knelt hugging the kids and talking to them. 

Jim unable to refrain from saying anything this time, looked at Julie's ex and quietly said, "Blair doesn't need back up. What he can't handle, I'm sure Aztec here would be more than willing to handle for him." Jim patted the dog growling at Mitch. 

"Keep that animal away from my kids." Mitch said in outrage and just a little fear for himself. 

"Why?" Julie said, standing, "Az happens to love children. She sleeps with them anytime they come over, almost as if she is guarding them from harm." 

Sam and Roma went over to greet the others and Aztec immediately stopped growling toward Mitch and focused her attention on the kids. Licking and sniffing them all over then lying down and rolling over so they could rub her belly. 

"That's a real mean dog there..." Simon said drolly. 

Mitch didn't have a reply. The threat of trying to keep them away from Blair and the dog fell flat as he watched the kids crawl all over the dog without so much as a yip from the beast. He just looked at Julie and said, "Have them ready and waiting for me next week. And I don't want o have to drive all over town to pick them up." 

"You'll pick them up wherever I say to pick them up. That was the stipulation of the visitation agreement. You are not to come to the house and if I want to drive to Seattle for the day, you'll have to pick them up there." She knew she was stretching it a little, but not by much. The restraining order against his visitation of the kids had been lifted. Julie had requested and was granted that the restraining order around their home be left in place, for her own peace of mind, using the examples of past physical emotional trauma when Mitch had come to see the kids after she'd moved out. The judge granted that request but stated that it would be subject to review pending on the outcome of the first visit. 

Once Mitch left, Julie and the rest of the group visibly relaxed. They lounged on the sofa and floor and listened to the kids recount their first visit with their father. There had been some trepidation on the part of the kids at first, but they ended up having fun with their half siblings. It seemed Mitch had gone out of his way to spoil the kids, buying them all kinds of new and wonderful toys to keep at his house for them to play with. 

"He's trying to buy them off," Blair commented under his breath to Jim while they got refills of beer for everyone. 

"It sounds that way, but wonderful toys and clothes can't make up for the love they get from you, Julie and Rafe." Jim told him as he set his hand on the small of Blair's back as a sign of comfort. 

"I know you're right, but... It's just so hard to hear them gushing on about him, knowing what he did to Julie. Damnit I was there. I saw first hand the bruises from the beatings he gave her when she didn't do something right. It just burns me to think he expects to be welcome in their life after all this time." Blair set the bottle down a little too hard on the counter. 

Julie looked up at the noise, but he just smiled at her questioning expression and continued to open the rest of the bottles Jim was setting in front of him. 

The party broke up soon after the kids' return, and only Jim stayed to help Blair clean up. They worked quietly together until the apartment was back into some semblance of order. They leashed the dogs and took them for a long walk along the waterfront. Neither of them said much. Blair was too deep in his thoughts to try and hold a conversation. He was grateful for the quiet support Jim offered just by staying and not leaving him alone. 

* * *

Blair rubbed his eyes and leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk. He tossed the exam he'd been working on back into the stack of blue books. He couldn't believe it was the end of October already. It seemed like he'd only just returned from South America and started the new semester even though it had already been two months. 

He took another look at the piles he had on his desk and seeing the finished pile was taller than the ungraded pile he decided he could spare a few minutes for a quick nap. He reached behind him and pushed a button on his stereo filling the room with soft nature sounds as he closed his eyes and let the sound wash through him. Hopefully the rest would ease the throbbing in his head. He needed to remember to make an appointment to have the prescription for his glasses checked. 

Jim knocked once and slowly opened the door, as was their custom. He found it interesting in just a couple of months he fit into the eclectic social circle that surrounded Blair, made up of anthropologists, kids, cops, and even his businessman brother. Even in the Army he was never a part of a group of friends who enjoyed each other's company as the one he found himself in now. They did everything from play poker once a month to go to basketball games or horse races. More and more Jim found himself socialising outside the group activities, more often or not with Simon and Blair. He was even getting to know his brother again. 

Jim found himself gravitating toward the young Professor and the friendship Blair offered. He couldn't really explain what it was about Blair that drew him. They were about as opposite as two people could be. Kinetic energy versus a state of rest. New age grunge versus classical and soft jazz. Or maybe it was the fact that if you looked past the difference, there were similarities. Weekends spent hiking and camping with the dogs. Pick-up basketball games, and warm days spent with Julie's kids, playing in the park. Conversations over dinner that led to Jim usually spending the night on the sofa because of the lateness and the amount of alcohol consumed. Or maybe it was the simple fact that during the times he felt like he was going crazy with the headaches and what could only be termed as sensory spikes, when everything seemed more intense, or more sensitive. Blair gave balanced him, like an oasis in a storm. 

He peeked through the door to make sure Blair wasn't with a student then walked in. He found Blair leaning back in his chair, asleep. The dogs raised their heads to acknowledge his presence but Maya went back to sleep herself and Aztec came over to greet him. 

"Hey, Az," he said quietly as he scratched her ears. 

Not wanting to wake Blair he grabbed a pillow from where Blair stashed them in the closet and lay down on the sofa. 

Blair woke from his short nap and almost fell off his chair when he looked up and saw Jim asleep on the sofa with Aztec curled around his legs. He smiled at his youngest greyhound. She'd taken a fancy to Jim from the start and he often teased him about the fact that he might as well take her home. Of course, Jim would actually have to go home to do that. Jim had been spending more and more time at Blair's apartment that he'd had a key made for him a few weeks ago. 

He sat there and watched as Jim slept. He'd managed to keep his attraction for the older man in check and formed a wonderful friendship with him. One that he was loath to mess up just because he was also attracted to him. It was funny how that worked out. He almost had to wonder if it wasn't some kind of cosmic fate. He'd met a good man for once but that man had become his best friend instead of a lover. 

The blaring ring of the phone jarred him from his thoughts, "Sandburg." He growled as he answered it. 

The call also woke Jim and he untangled himself from Aztec and swung his legs around so he sat upright and rubbed his temples. 

"Let me check my calendar." Blair flipped through this planner, "Yeah, I'm free. Which alum are we expecting for the exhibit?" He looked over and acknowledged Jim as he listened, "Graham Richards will be here? Yeah, okay." Blair put the phone down, "Shit." He was not happy about this. 

"Okay, chief?" Jim asked without preamble, still rubbing his head. 

"Yeah, just someone coming for the alumni art exhibit that I didn't expect to come.' Blair cryptically explained, grateful that Jim let the subject drop. "Another headache?" 

"Yeah, I can't seem to get rid of them and they are getting worse." 

Blair came over and sat behind Jim. He started to gently rub Jim's head, pressing lightly at the base of his skull. 

"What sets them off? Any clue?" 

"Everything. Lights too bright, sounds too loud, scents too strong." Jim moved into Blair's gentle massage, enjoying the feel, then he suddenly grabbed Blair's hand, pulling it away. "Sorry, it got real sensitive. Thanks for trying." 

Blair got up and started pacing around the room, mumbling to himself. Blair's mind was a whirl. Could Jim possibly be what he thought he might be and he'd missed it? 

It had been ten years since he'd finished his dissertation but the sentinel project was always close to his heart. Could sensory overloads from untrained senses with no control be the cause of Jim's headaches? Are all of his senses heightened? Could he possibly be a sentinel? 

"Blair, slow down. What are you talking about?" Jim asked confused. 

"Oh man, I was thinking out loud, wasn't I?" 

Jim nodded. 

"Okay, do you know what my dissertation was about?" 

"Not really. Why?" 

"Well I think that what you are experiencing are heightened senses. The topic of my dissertation was individuals with heightened senses called Sentinels. They were first documented by the explorer, Sir Richard Burton. He theorised that all pre-civilised tribal cultures had these Sentinels. They protected the tribe, like a watchman, patrolling the borders, watching the movement of animals and the changes in weather for food, and warned them against an approaching enemy. The sentinels were chosen for their genetic advantage." 

"This advantage being the heightened senses?" Jim asked. 

"Yes, their senses were honed to best suit the tribe. Now I documented hundreds of cases while I was working on my dissertation of people who had one or two heightened senses, but never anyone with all five." 

"And you think I am one of these Sentinels?" Jim asked, unsure if he really wanted to know the answer to that. 

"Yeah, maybe," Blair said. "Let me ask you a couple questions. Do you see things you shouldn't be able to see because they are too far away or too small for someone to notice?" asking the questions again just to make sure. 

Jim nodded, blushing almost as he remembered watching Blair's massage. 

"Hear things, before others do?" again Jim nodded. 

"Smell things others don't?" He'd noticed Jim's _allergy_ to strong smelling things and the fact the he couldn't stand the smell in Steven's house after the cleaning lady had been here. 

Another nod from Jim. 

"Taste buds off the map?" Blair actually knew the answer to that question, he's seen Jim not be able to eat really spicy foods on occasion but he wanted to hear the answer from Jim himself. 

Jim thought for a minute then nodded. 

"Hyperactive tactile response?" 

"In English." 

Blair smiled, "Extra touchy feely?" 

Jim nodded again. Yeah he was extra touchy feely and a lot of the touch was directed at the man pacing in front of him. "What causes this?" 

"Usually things like this are caused by prolonged isolation. Have you spent any time alone lately? When did you notice the sensory spikes start?" Jim's answer to this would probably be the final answer he needed to officially say that Jim was a real live living, breathing sentinel. He could almost kick himself, though, for not noticing it sooner. 

"I was in the jungles in Panama for Jungle Warfare training in June. I went up opposite a team of cadets for ten days. When I came out of the jungle things were different. I went to the medics but they couldn't find anything, since I was due to rotate out of Panama soon anyway, I opted for retirement instead of a new posting." 

"That's probably it. Your time in the jungle brought you latent senses back on line." 

"So what's next?" he asked, both skeptical and hopeful at the same time. 

"Now we concentrate on learning to turn them on and off and controlling them." 

"How?" 

"I need to go through some notes I took when I met a guide in South America last year. The Sentinel had died but the guide was willing to talk and told what it was like to work with a Sentinel and be a guide to them." 

"A guide?" Jim interrupted. 

"Oh sorry, I got ahead of myself again, didn't I?' 

Jim nodded as Blair continued, "From what I've been able to find out all sentinels have a guide to help them maintain control over their senses." 

"And the control the guide helps achieve reduces the chances of the sensory spikes and headaches?" 

"Technically, yes, I suppose so. First let's get you relaxed and get rid of the headache then we can try for control. How does that sound?" 

"I'm game, especially for getting rid of this headache." 

"Let's go back to my place. I'll call Julie and she can help." 

* * *

Blair called Julie from his cell phone and had her meet them at his apartment. She'd be able to help him with some of the sensory tests and would be a good person to use as a control. By the time he and Jim reached the apartment, Julie was already there and had a few things set up for them. 

She'd helped him with testing in the early years of working on his dissertation and usually ended up being a control for some of his tests. 

"Hey Jules," Blair greeted her as they walked in. 

"Blair. Jim" 

"Julie," Jim acknowledged. 

"Jim, you look like hell," Julie commented when he came in and made himself at home on the sofa, lying back with one hand covering his eyes 

"Thanks, Julie." Jim replied sarcastically. "I feel like hell too." 

"Headaches getting worse?" She asked knowing about Jim's headaches when Blair had come to her asking about massage techniques so he could try and help Jim when the older man was staying with him. 

Jim leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, "Yeah, they are." 

"Would it hurt if I touch you?" 

Blair listened to Julie's questions and Jim's answers while he moved around the room. He lowered the bamboo shades to dim the evening sun that was streaming in the windows. He also removed Maya and Aztec's collars so the jingle of the tags wouldn't bother Jim. He inserted a soft piano meditation CD into the player that would help mask some of the other sounds that could cause a sensory spike. Plus the music would give him something to concentrate on. 

"Okay, then, if touch isn't a problem then let me give you a massage. This should help you relax and take some of the pain away. Once we accomplish that, then Blair can work on some of the other sensory problems." 

Jim nodded. He slowly rose and headed to the bathroom for a hot shower first. 

Once Julie heard the shower turn on she turned to Blair, "Is he?" 

"Yeah, he is." 

"Wow!" 

"Yeah, wow." Blair said as he headed toward his desk, "I need to find my notes from this past summer. I met a man who had served as a guide, his Sentinel had been killed a short time before our expedition arrived. We spent a lot of time talking about a Guide's roll in a Sentinel's life." Blair's voice drifted as he shuffled binders on his desk. 

Blair's rummaging stopped immediately, "Shit! Jules, the kids?" 

"Relax, Rafe has them," Julie smiled. 

"Weren't they supposed to be with Mitch today?" 

"Yeah, they were. He never showed up and we even waited two hours for him. I called the social worker handling the visitations and informed her of the situation so she has it officially in the records. Rafe is talking them on a picnic and then to the Aquarium to make it up to them." 

"Good." Blair replied quickly, then turned back to his search. When he came up with the notes he wanted he turned back to Julie, "Jules, speaking of good men..." He was glad of the role Rafe was taking in his friend's life. 

"I know, Blair. Believe me, I know. It's almost to good to be true." 

"Go with it, Babe, you deserve this." Blair reassured her. 

They got comfortable around the coffee table and started to look at the notes. Julie looked up and stilled Blair's hand as he was making some additional notes. "Blair." 

"Hmmm." 

"Don't ruin your own good thing for the sake of your research." she advised. 

"I won't. Keep reminding me though. You know how single minded I can be." Blair reassured her. 

Jim came out from behind the shoji screen wearing just his boxers and Blair's robe and went to join the other two. 

Julie stood and led him back to the bed. "Jim, why don't you lie on Blair's bed and get comfortable. I have two scents of massage bars with me, almond and sage, pick one." Julie handed him the two bars in their respective bags. 

Jim sniffed them both and handed back the one he didn't want. "Almond. The sage is Blair's scent." He told her quietly, seeing the startled look from them both. 

Blair got situated on the other side of the bed, leaning back against the headboard, "While Julie is giving you the massage, I'm going to read my notes from my time in South America, aloud. One thing I remember the guide telling me last year was that the Sentinel should not be allowed to over focus on one particular sense. The music, my voice along with the scented oil and Julie's massage should help to avoid what I would call a zone out. If you need to actually be touching something call Aztec up and keep a hand on her." 

Julie started the massage and at her nod Blair began to read from his notes. They spent the better part of the afternoon like that, once in a while stopping to ask questions. Julie for further clarification, and Jim, just out of curiosity. 

Jim for the most part remained quiet. The drone of their voices and the magic of Julie's hands reduced the tension pounding in his head. For the first time since he came out of the jungle in Panama, he felt like he might actually have some control back in his life. He knew it was far from over and there would be tests and more work to learn control but it was a start and he owed it to the two crazy anthropologists who pulled him into their lives and his brother for introducing him to them. 

* * *

Blair opened his office door, very glad that he didn't have office hours between his Anthro 101 class and his designated lunch hour. He wanted to go through some more of his notes about Jim's senses. The older man was making great strides in gaining control of his senses and in the couple of weeks they had been working together to control Jim's senses, the headaches had decreased in both intensity and frequency. Even Steven commented one night after dinner that Jim seemed less surly these days. 

Blair found Julie sitting at his worktable with notes spread out around her. "Hey Blair," she called as he came in. 

"Jules, I thought you were off today, " he commented as he dropped his bag on his desk. 

"I was, but Rafe got called in on a murder case so I figured I might as well come in and look over some of the results on Jim's tests." 

"We might as well go over it together, I was going to do the same thing today." Blair said as he seated himself across the table from her. 

"No office hours today?" 

"Nope, I rescheduled them so I could have afternoons free two days a week." 

"Want to tell me how to do it when I finally get my PhD.?" 

Blair laughed, "Sure as long as you tell me your secret with the department head. I swear that man hates me as much now as he did when I was a TA." 

Julie laughed at her mentor. He'd never had it easy with the department head. 

Together they started going over some of the results of their testing, commenting and recording the changes they had noticed from the first day. Jim's control was increasing. And as his control increased so did his abilities. 

A knock at the door interrupted their discussion of Jim's tactile responses. "Come in." They both called out. 

"Now why doesn't it surprise me to find the two of you together?" 

"Graham!" Blair exclaimed, surprised to see the slightly taller man with his black hair and olive skin. With everything going on with Jim, he'd forgotten about Graham's impending arrival. 

"Hello, Graham." Julie's stated flatly. 

"Julie, still hanging onto Blair's coattails I see." Graham acknowledged sarcastically before turning to Blair, "Hello, darling," he said as he pulled Blair into an unwilling embrace. 

Julie gathered her notes and stuffed them into her carry-all. "Blair, I'm outta here. Call me when you want to finish going over this week's results." 

"Jules..." he almost pleaded 

"No, you're a big boy now. Just remember, often the best things are right in front of you and you can't see it." 

"Quoting song lyrics, dear?" Graham asked. 

"If it fits, and it does, you bet." 

"Still trying to get Blair all to yourself, huh?" 

"Actually no, I've already had him," Julie taunted, knowing just the idea of her and Blair being together would get to Graham. 

"Ummm, guys, do you mind calling a truce?" Blair requested. 

Before either could respond the door opened and Rafe stuck his head in, "I knew I'd find you in Blair's office when you weren't at home." 

Julie took the last few strides to the door and hugged Rafe, "What are you doing here? I thought you had a case?" 

"I do but I wanted to take a break and see you even if it's only long enough to grab a burger at the student union." He kept his arm around her and pulled her close for a kiss. Once he broke the kiss he looked over her shoulder, "Hi Blair." 

"Rafe." Blair greeted him, smiling. 

"Lunch sounds good to me. I was just about to leave anyway." She let Rafe pull her bag from her shoulder and headed out the door behind him. "Remember what I said, Sandburg." she said as the door closed behind her. 

Graham shook his head, "Still the bitch, I see." 

"Graham, leave it alone. I didn't put up with you and Julie sniping at each other before and I won't now." Blair warned. 

"Christ Blair, she has you wrapped around her finger and jumping through her hoops. You'll never be able to satisfy her." 

"Graham, you don't know a thing about Julie or the relationship she and I have so leave it alone." 

"Leave what alone Blair? What relationship? She's obviously got herself some stud to take care of her and you're still kissing her ass." 

"Graham, get out! If all you're going to do is snip about Jules then just get out." Blair was pissed. He'd had enough of Graham's jealousy of Julie when he and Graham were involved to last a lifetime. 

"I don't want to fight with you." Graham snuggled closer to Blair, hoping to appease his ex-lover. 

Blair let the tension slip the closer Graham got to him. "Damn, Graham, it's been four years, you can't..." 

Graham cut off Blair's protests with a kiss. He could feel Blair freeze with shock then give in to the feeling and when his resistance slipped, he pulled him close and began to run his hands along Blair's back keeping him close. 

Blair gave in to the kiss, allowing himself to feel what he'd been missing during now 18 months worth of celibacy. Abruptly he pulled away. He could get lost in Graham and all Graham was offering, but this time it wasn't enough. He not only wanted the good sex that Graham was offering, but he wanted it all. He wanted the permanence, the relationship that extended past the bedroom. He wanted Jim. 

"Blair?" 

Blair backed away hands in the air, "Graham, no. I can't. I won't. I want more than a quick lay as you pass through town." 

"Okay." 

Blair had a feeling his ex wouldn't give up, his 'okay' came just a little two easy for his comfort. Blair sat down on the sofa and put his head in his hands. He needed to figure out how to diffuse the ticking time bomb that was Graham. 

Graham promised to be good as he sat down next to Blair. He encouraged the Anthropologist to fill him in on all his adventures, which Blair did willingly. He bristled every time Blair mentioned Julie's name but he refrained from commenting. He's promised Blair he wouldn't. Graham was curious though -- all the stories Blair told about his return from South America always included someone named Jim. He wanted to know who Jim was and if he was competition but all his innocent questions went unanswered. 

Blair in turn listened with interest to Graham as he told about New York and his life there. 

"Hey, let's go to lunch." Blair suggested, wanting to get out of the confines of his office, and to some place more public. He didn't totally trust Graham, not any more. Graham's stories about his escapades in New York made Blair uncomfortable considering the end of the relationship was marked by one of Graham's escapades. 

"Good idea. That Vegan place still there?" 

Blair smiled, "Yeah, Let's go." 

As he closed the office door behind them, Graham cracked a joke about office location that left the two of them laughing so hard they held each other up as they walked down the hallway. 

* * *

"Hey Jim!" Julie's called as she saw the tall man enter the department. 

"Jules. How you doing?" he asked using Blair's nickname for her. 

"Not bad. Are you looking for Blair?" 

"Yeah...I thought we could have lunch together." 

"Will I do instead?" Julie's asked. She wanted to keep him away from Blair's office until she could talk to him. 

"Hmmm, lunch with Sandburg, or lunch with a beautiful woman? No contest. Sandburg can fend for himself." Jim flirted. 

"Flatterer." She teased before asking, "Tandoori?" 

"Tandoori sounds good." Jim smiled, he loved Tandoori and since he'd been working with Blair to control his senses he felt he could tune his sense of taste so he could eat one of his favourite foods again. 

Just as Julie was about to leave with Jim, Blair and Graham came down the hall. They were laughing about something and Graham had his arm possessively around Blair's shoulder. 

"Hey Jim!" Blair announced, loosening his grasp on Graham quickly, almost as if he didn't want Jim to see him being intimate with another man. 

"Sandburg." Jim said, smiling when he saw Blair. 

"Oh man, did I forget about lunch?" Blair asked, hoping that would be the case so he could excuse himself from Graham. He'd much rather have lunch with Jim and Julie than worry about what Graham was going to try and pull with him. 

"No, Julie and I are going to lunch." Jim informed him, as he looked between the two men wondering what was going on and hoping Julie would fill him in as to who the man they hadn't introduced was. 

"Jules, I thought that you were out with Rafe?" Blair asked, looking at his old friend. 

"I was but he got called back and as I was on my way back in I ran into Jim." 

"Oh, Okay." Blair replied. 

"Going to be in town long, Graham?" Julie's asked, looking between him and Blair. 

"As long as it takes." he replied flippantly as he led Blair down the hall away from Julie and Jim. 

"Why that pompous..." Julie sputtered. 

"Who was that?" Jim asked feeling a surge of jealousy. 

Julie looked at Jim and saw the same expression she was sure she wore, disgust for the man who just led Blair away. But there was also something else she caught a glimpse of before it was gone and Jim's mask was back in place. "Come on, I'll tell you over lunch." 

* * *

Julie changed her mind about where she wanted to eat and talked Jim out of Tandoori and into eating at a Moroccan place sitting on cushions and eating with their fingers. 

"Okay, Julie, talk." Jim said as they sipped their wine in-between courses. 

"Yeah, I guess I should explain that little scene in the Anthro office." 

Jim raised his eyebrow and nodded. He listened as Julie started to tell him about Graham. She started off with just basic info. How they all met, became friends, etc, before she took the plunge and told Jim that Blair and Graham had been lovers. 

"Lovers?" Jim asked. He wanted her to answer directly, he'd suspected but wasn't sure. 

"Yeah," She said quietly, than added, "Does that bother you?" 

"No. Not in the least bit." Jim was almost elated to hear confirmation of Blair's bisexuality. "Why should it?" 

"Just checking, I had a feeling that it wouldn't but I wasn't sure." Julie said quietly. 

Jim just nodded. He had a feeling Julie had guessed about his own bisexuality. He'd caught on to her matchmaking campaign early on and went with the flow especially if it meant spending more time with Blair. "So finish telling me about this guy?" 

"He got his PhD just before Blair did and took off to New York to live in SoHo and teach painting and bed his models. Oh and of course he expected to become rich and famous." she said sarcastically. 

"Did he?" Jim asked. 

"Become rich and famous. Depends on how you define famous, although infamous is probably a better word for him." 

"You don't like him much do you?" Jim asked. 

"No, I don't. In fact, I despise him." 

"Why? If I may ask." 

"Besides the way he treated Blair, like he was his possession. He was jealous of our friendship. Jealous of the relationship Blair has with the kids. You name it and Graham was jealous of it. The thing is, he tried to put a leash and collar on Blair but then he'd go out and sleep with half the co-eds behind Blair's back. All I can say is, thank the gods Blair demanded safe sex." 

"That's a smart thing for anybody these days," Jim commented. "Can I ask why you are telling me all this now?" 

Julie looked at him for a few moments, "Jim, can I ask you a personal question first?" 

Jim chuckled, "You're asking me that? Now?" There wasn't a whole lot Julie didn't know about him since she was helping Blair sort out his senses. 

"Yes, well, but I've never asked you about your sex life before." Julie laughed. 

"What sex life?" Jim snorted. Normally it would have been like pulling teeth to get him to reveal something so intimate, but the whole tone of their conversation put him such at ease that it came out before he could stop it. "Go ahead." 

She took a deep breath, "Are you attracted to Blair?" 

Jim was very glad at that moment that he'd chosen to set his wine glass down instead of taking another drink. Julie would have either been wearing his wine or he'd have choked himself. "Do I want to know why you are asking? Does this have to do with why you are telling me about Blair and Graham?" 

"Yes, it has everything to do with why I told you about Blair and Graham. It's simple. If you are, and I've been around the two of you for a long time and I think you are. I've watched you watching him and vice versa. Then I'm going to suggest that you let him know... soon. I know Blair and I know you mean a lot to him. I want to see the two of you happy together. I don't want to see you lose him to Graham and then have to put him back together after Graham hurts him again." Julie paused for a moment. "Blair is a very stable person. He always has been. But in the face of great sex and a long denied libido...I know he wants more than Graham could ever offer him, but he could give in to what Graham is offering in the heat of the moment. I just don't want to see him go through it all again. I want him to be happy and..." Julie stopped she'd said enough. 

Jim had been quiet, just listening to Julie and the rush of words. She was so much like Blair at times it wasn't hard to see why they got along so well. "What happened between him and Graham?" 

"It's a long story, one that Blair should probably tell you." She'd already told Jim way too much as it was. 

"But you started to," Jim commented. 

"Yeah, I probably told you more than I should have too, but I needed to find out how you felt about Blair." 

"Julie, how do you even know Blair would return my feelings?" He was uncertain. 

"Because I know him, sometimes even better than he knows himself. I think you could give him what he wants and that he could give just as much back to you." She knew she was being presumptuous but she had to try. 

"Oh..." 

"Jim, please, think about it but don't wait too long to decide what you want. If Graham gets Blair to model for him then it's a short trip to bed from there. And if that happens it will be a long time before he opens himself up for another real relationship, Graham always leaves him hurting and afraid to trust. He's ready for a meaningful permanent relationship. If he wasn't he'd have bedded half the half the eligible women in Cascade by now." 

Jim just nodded and sat quietly allowing Julie's words to sink in. He knew Blair hadn't been dating. There was no way he could have been. They spent most of Blair's free time together, hiking, camping, going to Jags games and just hanging out and that was before Blair figured out the heightened senses. Now they still did the fun things but they added the work with his senses to the mix. 

* * *

It took Jim two days to make his decision. Two days to decide if he wanted to return to the bisexuality he'd practised in college before accepting his commission. Two days to decide if he wanted to risk the wonderful friendship he'd formed with the eclectic Anthropologist, in favour of something just as lasting and permanent. Permanence was what he wanted too, now he just hoped Julie's advice had been right. 

At the end of his two days he found himself using the keycard he'd been given months ago to enter the courtyard of the building. As he stood outside Blair's door, he realised the two items he held in his hand - a keycard to Blair's building and the key to his apartment. He wondered if the decision had been made for them long before either realised it. He knew Julie was the only other person Blair trusted enough to give a key to and wasn't trust something that Blair put a lot of stock in. They had spent many hours talking about the things that mattered most in relationships and trust was the big one. 

The final acknowledgement of the decision he'd made was when he turned the key and opened the door. "Blair?" He said as he came through the door. 

Before he had a chance to even look to see if Blair was there he was greeted by a ball of fur, "Hey Az," he said as he greeted the greyhound with thumping pets and a good scritching behind the ears. 

"Jim, man, you surprised me." Blair called from the direction of the bed. 

Jim looked up to see Blair lying out on the bed, nude, except for the blue satin sheet draped across his hips. It was a nice contrast to the light skin that still held the traces of a summer tan. Maya had her head lying on his leg. He totally ignored Graham and the confused look that came over the artist at his appearance. Jim knew he'd made the right decision, any confusion he'd felt diminished when he took on look at Blair. _Yeah, I want this_ he thought to himself. 

_It was do or die time_ Jim walked over to the bed, his eyes locked with Blair's, not really hearing the "Excuse me." repeatedly coming from Graham. 

Jim slowly leaned across the bed, giving Blair plenty of time to back away, before he plunged his fingers in the curly hair hanging down and tickling the professor's bare shoulders. Blair barely moved as he gently kissed him. That first kiss was just the quick touch of their lips at first then the nibbling kisses turning to a hard, but still chaste, kiss. 

"Mmm..." Blair murmured when they finally separated. 

"I missed you," Jim whispered against Blair's lips. 

Tired of being ignored Graham approached the bed, ready to pull Jim away from Blair when the red and white brindle greyhound growled and moved between him and the bed. 

Aztec's growling caught both Jim and Blair's attention and they turned toward the dog. 

Jim reached out as he called the dog to him, "Az! Come." He grabbed her collar after she leaped on the bed and settled next to him. 

"Excuse me. But just who the fuck do you think you are? And what do you think you are doing barging in here like that?" Graham demanded. He'd watched the display with disgust. He would have never guess that the quiet man he'd met two days ago outside Blair's office would come in kissing Blair like _that_. Julie must have put him up to it. _It was just like that bitch_ Graham thought. 

Jim looked over at the angry artist with a smile that said I know exactly what I'm doing so don't mess with me. "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm saying hello to my lover. And I plan to spend the evening with him. Alone. I've shared long enough." He'd staked his claim and dared Graham to argue otherwise. 

"This isn't over." Graham threatened. "Blair's just toying with you, he'll come back to me." Confident in the fact that _he_ knew what Blair liked. 

"Yes, I think it is over and rest assured, this is no game." Jim said calmly patting Az's neck as she sat next to him growling at Graham. 

Graham watched the scene, the large man hadn't moved from his spot on Blair's bed and that damn dog was pressed as close to him as she could get. He could never get close to her, she'd always growled at him when he tried. 

"Graham, go." Blair said quietly, his choice evident. 

"Blair..." 

"No, Graham, I told you from the start I wanted more than you had to offer." Blair informed him. 

Graham packed his sketchbooks and headed for the door. 

"Leave the sketches," Jim said in a voice Blair was sure was his 'officer' voice. 

Graham pulled the book he'd been sketching Blair in and slammed it down on the counter on his way out the door. 

Blair watched the door close. It almost seemed like a fitting epilogue to his past with Graham. For once it was him choosing someone else and not being the one staring dumb-founded. He turned toward Jim, "Lover?" 

"Yeah. Lover. If you want." Jim said quietly. 

"This isn't just something you and Jules planned to get rid of Graham?" Blair had to know, he wouldn't put it past Julie to convince Jim to do this just to get rid of Graham. He knew just how much Julie hated his ex-lover. 

"We talked, but no, this is my decision." 

Blair shifted, not bothering to recover himself with the blue satin that slipped off his body. "Yes Jim," he ran his hand across Jim's cheek and lightly across the lips that had just kissed him. "I definitely want." 

He moaned when Jim sucked his finger into his mouth, his tongue swirling around the tip until he moaned again. "I'm assuming you know what you're doing?" he said with a raspy voice. 

"Hmm-hmm..." Jim mumbled before he released the finger and pulled the smaller man to him claiming the lips he'd just barely tasted before. 

Blair's mouth opened under the assault and Jim slipped his tongue in. Tasting the wine Blair had been drinking, a heady Merlot, and the sandwich he'd had for lunch, the turkey, the swiss cheese, the sprouts and alfalfa, and the tangy mustard. His revelled in the feel of the soft skin covering taut muscles and sprinkled with soft curly hair. Jim had wanted to run his hands over the body he'd watched get massages for a long time. He wanted to feel the muscles tense and relax under his hands as they were now doing. Blair's scent was something familiar to Jim. He'd grown so used to Blair spicy, earthy scent that it became a comfort to him when he felt his senses start to go hay-wire. He'd always loved the sound of Blair's voice, it calmed him and centred him and now he got to hear its raspy breathlessness. 

Blair managed to help Jim divest himself of his clothes and they spent the rest of the night in exploration of each other. Discovering the secret places that turned the other's bones to jello and teasing until one was crying for release joined shortly after by the other. 

Morning came before they realised the night was over and they lay sleeping, curled around each other. Blair woke first and watched Jim as he slept, part of him couldn't believe this was happening. He'd actually managed to push the attraction he'd felt for the person who, besides Julie, was his best friend, to the background and focused on the friendship. He was afraid, he didn't want to screw their friendship up and this had the potential to do just that. 

The change in Blair's heartbeat woke Jim, and he opened his eyes to see the scrutiny he was under. "Morning." his voice still groggy. 

Blair smiled, "Morning." 

Jim reached over and pulled Blair close for a good morning kiss. 

Pulling back, Blair was still smiling, "About last night?" 

"What about it?" Jim propped himself up on one elbow, he was curious as to where Blair was going with his question. 

"This is more than just last night ri.." 

Jim put his fingers against Blair's lips cutting off the question, "Blair, I don't do casual. This is way more than casual." 

"Yeah, good..." Blair whispered as he closed the distance between he and Jim. 

* * *

Blair lay in bed, he was too content to move, although he knew he should. Jim was in the shower. A part of him wanted to go join his new lover, but contentment won out and he remained in bed reflecting on just how lucky he was to have Jim come into his life, and not just because of the Sentinel thing, but because of the man. 

He turned to the door when he heard the dog's collars rattle against the door, barely having time to pull the sheet up and over his body. 

"Blair!" Julie called as she stepped through the door followed by two bundles of energy. 

"Uncle Blair!" The kids called as they bounced on the bed. 

"Ahhh, Jules... The sheets are most definitely not clean." He tipped his head toward the bathroom where the sound of the shower shutting off could be heard. 

"Damnit Blair! I told you not to get involved with him, he's only going to break your heart again." Julie started to rant. 

Rafe, who had followed them in, heard the gist of the conversation and knew enough of the old jokes between Julie and Blair to know that not clean sheets meant Blair had gotten lucky the night before. He called the kids away from the bedroom area and headed them toward the TV. He didn't think the venting Julie was about to do would be good for the kids to over hear. 

"Jules..." 

"No, don't try to talk your way out of it. And I don't give a damn if Graham hears me either. That SOB has..." Julie stopped dead when she saw Jim walk out in Blair's robe. 

"Morning, Julie," Jim said cheerfully. 

"Oh shit." She stammered as she blushed, knowing full well that Jim had probably heard her and Blair's entire conversation. 

Jim chuckled and walked over to give Julie a good morning kiss, "Thanks." 

Still embarrassed she collected herself and stammered, "So you two, ahh?" she motioned to the rumpled bed. 

Blair grinned, mimicking her hand motions, "Yeah..." 

"I'm glad. You two deserve each other and you deserve to be happy." She shook her head still hiding her embarrassment. 

Jim guided them away from the bed so Blair could make his escape into the shower. 

A few minutes later Blair emerged from behind the screen wearing a pair of old faded jeans and a US Army sweat shirt he'd snagged from Jim once when they had gone camping. He made his way over to join the group, "So what brings you by this morning?" 

Julie looked at Rafe and he moved up to put his hand on her shoulders. He cleared his throat, "Since Julie doesn't have any family beside the kids and you I wanted to formally ask your permission to marry Julie." 

Blair was stunned, he'd never expected this, "Umm, the kids what do they say?" 

Roma and Sam looked at Rafe and answered, "Uncle Blair, we like him and it would be so cool to have a real Dad." 

Blair smiled not missing the inference to Mitch and the fact that he wasn't seen as a real father, as both the kids piled into his lap, "I guess I can't argue with that." He looked at Julie and saw how happy she was, "So when's the big day?" 

Julie smiled and reached up to pat Rafe's hand, "Soon." 

Jim reached over the back of the sofa and kissed Julie's cheek and reached over Julie to shake hands with Rafe, "Congratulations." 

"Thanks." 

Julie looked up at him, "Thanks Jim and same to you. Can I say I told you so?" 

Jim chuckled, "You're entitled to." He reached down and ran his hand along Blair's back. 

Blair shooed the kids off his lap and pulled Julie close. Rafe and Jim stood back to watch the two friends embrace. Both men knowing that a circle had completed itself and a future found, for all of them. 

**FINIS**


End file.
